Following the escalation of xenophobic attacks on Nigerians living in South Africa, the federal government has summoned the country’s High Commissioner to Nigeria to a meeting.
The impromptu but planned meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m Tuesday morning and would take place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja.
“I am directed to inform that the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs has summoned the High Commissioner of South Africa for a meeting this morning by 11am. You are therefore invited to cover the meeting,” the short statement inviting journalists to cover the event said.
However, further details have emerged about the latest attacks on Nigerians living in South Africa.
It was gathered that the latest xenophobic attacks on Nigerians was as a result of the clash between taxi drivers and drug dealers in South Africa.
A reliable source in the ministry said that the clash led to the death of a taxi driver, and a South African media outfit allegedly reported that the taxi driver was killed by a Nigerian, which led to the escalation of the attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.
The source also confirmed the media reports that the attack on the Nigerian embassy in South Africa was carried out by Nigerians who felt the embassy had not done enough to protect them and not by South Africans.
The source stated: “What happened was that there was a clash between taxi drivers and drug dealers in South Africa and in the process one of the taxi drivers was killed.
“One of the South African media outfits carried the news that the driver that was killed was killed by a Nigerian, because of that they started attacking and looting shops and property owned by Nigerians.
“The mission decided to salvage the situation by rescuing some and even taking some persons that took their property to the confine of the embassy.
“But after that, there were other dissatisfied Nigerians that felt the embassy did not do enough to protect them. They went to attack the Nigerian embassy. The attack is not by South Africans but by Nigerians on the Nigerian embassy. So in the process, they vandalized the gatehouse before the issue was curtailed.
“The situation has been brought under control, but we requested the Mission to send a detailed report so that we can issue a statement but they have not done that. We don’t want to issue a statement based on hearsay.”
Samson Oyedeyi
